FRESHKID - I’m very interested in knowing why the baking failure.  I know it can be done, so it leads me to think its a balance between the ingredients.  I wonder if i have too much liquid in the recipe.  Although the liquid to dry ratio may work for a regular angel food pan, perhaps because its in a layer pan it needs less “guts” so to say or it won’t stay in without the center tube.  I also thought I may be under baking it tad, it comes out of the oven cooked but very moist and not very browned.  But please let me know what could be the problem so I can try fix it.  I know I can just make it and leave it upright to cool in a layer pan and hope for minimum shrinkage, but I really wanna try see if i can get it to where i can invert it without it falling so any tips would be much appreciated.  Thanks!

DACHIE:
  Good morning. Dauchie, you are right about the cake ingredients. They are out of balance. This recipe as is will bake (coagulate)in a bundt/tube pan because of the heat it receives from 4 sides.  In a typical round cake pan you do receive enough heat to coagulate around the perimeter of the pan, maybe 3, inch per side leaving maybe 3 or 4 inches in the middle not baked. Why is this so???.
  Because the typical chiffon recipe does not have enough flour…flour plus the eggs provide the structure. Also notice the amount of sugar…it ‘s weight exceeds the weight of the flour. This in itself is known in comm. bakeries as a “HI~RATIO CAKE FORMULA”. it generally requires a
product known as a hi-ratio shortening. Also notice the weight of the eggs & all liquids together, it exceeds the weight of the flour by a very large amount. Simply put the flour cannot ABSORB all this sugar & liquid & coagulate. Why does it coagulate in a tube pan??? the liquids getting heat from 4 sides causes the liquids to become steam…this in turn just like when baking a angel food cake coupled with the gluten in the flour & eggs provide the fragile structure.  In a normal cake pan the sugar in the middle doesn’t get to melt
& the liquids do not become steam hence limited or insufficent structure.
  Now Dachie, It is almost impossible to find a chiffon cake recipe to fit in a round cake pan…but I have one. You guessed it the flour amount was increased. I have never baked this cake. I thought maybe someday but I never have. However, if you are so bent on baking a chiffon in this style pan post back & I will gift to you but only if you say you will bake it.
  If you have further ????post back & I will help you if I can.

  ~FRESHKID.

FreshKid, I loved following this post, what a great explanation for why chiffons don’t bake well in a layer pan!  Thanks so very much, you’ve made me smile.

FreshKid, Yes, Please! I would love the recipe for the chiffon cake, I’d like to see the ratio of dry to liquid ingredients, hopefully I’ll learn something from it.  I’ll definitely make it, after all I’ve already made 7-8 chiffons trying to perfect this recipe, what’s one more.  I figured if i took my recipe lowered the liquid and or increased the flour it may have a better structure for the layer cake pans but i was also scared I’d be sacrificing moisture and not get as moist a cake at the cost of structure.  But perhaps in this situation I can’t have my cake and eat it too.  Thank you for the information you posted too, I love reading about the science behind baking as it helps me to make other stuff by applying the same principles.

DACHIE:
  Good afternoon to you. As promised I will post the recipe for CHIFFON CAKE AS A LAYER CAKE for your benefit.

  COMES NOW

A/P flour           10.5 oz                   100%
Bkg powder     3, tsp.
Salt       1/2,tsp
Sugar (Divided)**  10.5,oz                   100%    **  Approx 2.5/3. oz of sugar for whites.
Veg. oil             4, oz                       38%
Eggs               12.25, oz                   108.25%  I egg whole 6, eggs separated.  Total 7, eggs.
Vanilla 1,tsp
Cream of tarter1/2 tsp Max.
————————————————...............................346%
                    37. oz

  Use (2) 9, in. round cake pans.

  Dachie , I will not post the directions as they are typical & as well as whipping up the whites as you know how to do that. If you need more info post back.
  If you can, post back with your results…If you are not happy with it we can fix it for you.
  Good luck in your baking & enjoy the weekend my friend.

  ~FRESHKID.

An on-line group called the “Cake Slice Bakers” recently made a chiffon cake that was baked as layers. It was the Lemon Chiffon cake from ““Sky-High: Irresistable Triple-Layer Cakes” by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne.

There’s a link to the recipe on Gigi Cakes blog http://www.gigicakes.net/2009/03/triple-lemon-chiffon-cake.html  and the recipe can be found at http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcch78fx_16f49q79gd

It would be interesting to compare this to Rose’s chiffon cake recipe…anyone up for that?